Some brave souls in the Appliances Online office are skydiving for charity on Saturday 20th March. I have to confess I am not one of the 30 employees who have signed up for this, quite frankly, stomach churning activity, although I will be doing my part by sponsoring the team!

I will be watching the event with my feet firmly on the ground (the way God intended), which is taking place at Skydive North West in the beautiful Lake District, the longest established skydiving centre in Europe, so at least they will have some lovely scenery to admire on the way down!

All money raised from the skydive will go to our chosen charity and a very worthy cause, Bolton Lads & Girls' Club. If you are interested in sponsoring the Appliances Online 'skydiving for charity', please email Natalie.Clarke@appliancesonline.co.uk to show your support.

Watch this space for pictures from the fateful event.... Good luck team!

How to clean and maintain your dishwasher is the topic of this weeks video blog. If you are not one of those super organised people who are completely on top of their dishwasher maintenance, then you may be suprised by the upkeep involved - Dishwasher salt, rinse aid and dishwasher cleaner are all essential elements of the process - but the results will speak for themselves! See last weeks video blog for advice on how to clean a condenser tumble dryer.

 

 

This weeks 'HOW TO FRIDAY' video blog centres around how to clean a condenser tumble dryer, including advice on how to clean the water tank, lint filter and condenser.

Condenser dryers are the perfect appliance if you live in a flat or apartment, or just don't have any space near an outside wall! Although they take more maintenance than a vented tumble dryer, look after it and it will look after your clothes!

Check out last weeks video blog for advice on how to remove transit bolts from a washing machine.

 

I'm sure you have all been wondering where HOW TO Friday has been for the past few weeks, and waiting avidly by your computers for the next post. Well 'HOW TO Friday' fans, I'm pleased to inform you it's back and better than ever... in video form!

Here is the first 'HOW TO Friday' video blog, and this week the subject is removing transit bolts from a washing machine.

Let us know what you think of the new format, and if there are topics you would like covering.

Don't let this week's nice weather fool you - winter is on the way and it will soon be time for warming hotpots and stews. As the festive season approaches (sorry for mentioning it already, won't use the 'C' word yet though) a lot of people replace their cookers and ovens in preparation for increased usage, however we don't all have the space for a luxurious range cooker, so what should you go for? If you live in a apartment, or have a smaller kitchen, a 55cm cooker is ideal for small spaces whilst still having a big enough capacity to cook for a whole family, or a Christmas dinner (sorry, I know I promised I wouldn't). Depending on the set up of your kitchen, 55cm gas cookers and 55cm electric cookers are available. But bear in mind when buying a new cooker that electric cookers don't plug into the mains and you will need a qualified electrician, and gas cookers required a registered gas fitter. One more consideration if you live in an apartment (sorry to overload you) is any gas cooker you buy must be fitted with a flame safety device by law, which basically means if a flame goes out, the gas supply will be cut off, saving the whole building from going up in flames. This is not a legal requirement if you live in a terraced, semi-detached or detached house.

However if you won't settle for anything less than a stylish range cooker but don't have the space for a full sized model, try a 90cm range cooker, if you are really short on space, I would recommend this Electrolux EKM70150X dual fuel range cooker, which is only 70cm wide. One more that I have to mention is the Stoves RICHMOND550 mini range cooker – I don't know if 'cute' can be used to describe a cooker, but these are! They are only 55cm wide, but have the appearance of a traditional country range cooker, and come in a range of funky colours as well as fuel types.